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Hon. HORATIO SEYMOUR, LL. D., 

EX-GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

LATE PRESIDENT 

OF THE 

Oneida HistoricalSociety, 



BY 

ISAAC S; HARTLEY, D. D., 



SECOND VICE PRESIDENT 



O. H. S. 



Capax bnpeni nisi imperasset. Tacitus. 



UTICA. N. Y.: 
PRESS OF L. C. CHILDS & SON, 33 AND 35 CHARLOTTE STREET. 



E4I-5 



NOTE — With a few additional sentences, the following pages are 
taken from the "American Magazine of History," May, 1886. Great 
thanks are due and are herewith extended to Mrs. Martha J. Lamb, the 
accomplished editress of the same, for the accompanying accurate illus- 
trations. 






HORATIO SEYMOUR, 

1810-1886. 



The rapidity with which death, during the last few 
, months, has removed some of the more distinguished 
of our countrymen, is quite phenomenal. The in- 
vasions have been especially among those who in 
military and civic service have contributed largely 
to the perpetuity and integrity of the Union. 

On as beautiful an August day as ever shone. 
General Ulysses S. Grant, amid the sincere grief 
of the entire nation, and followed by the slow 
march of many thousands, found his last resting 
place on the banks of the beautiful Hudson. On 
the first day of December, Vice President Thomas A. 
Hendricks was carried to his home in Crown Hill 
Cemetery, nigh unto Indianapolis. A few weeks 
later, loving hands bore General George B. Mc- 
Clellan from his Orange Mountain home to his 
sepulchre in Trenton. Last February numbered 
among its eminent dead. General Winfield S. 
Hancock. The day following the funeral of this 
valiant soldier, the black camel knelt at the door of 
Horatio Seymour. Thus has the nation been be- 
reaved since the summer solstice. What is quite as 



4 HORATIO SEYMOUR. 

remarkable, the last four of this distinguished group 
were removed after less than seven days' serious 
illness. That the remaining noble and faithful sons 
of the republic may long be preserved is the prayer 
of the united and prosperous nation. 

Horatio Seymour came of an honored and patri- 
otic ancestry. The family was among the earlier 
settlers of Hartford, Connecticut ; and contributed 
not a little to the glory and development of that 
State. In the War of the Revolution his grand- 
father was captain of a troop of horse ; in which 
capacity he served in some of its more important 
struggles, winning at Stillwater special praise. Of 
his five sons one became distinguished as a financier 
and president ; two became high sheriffs of the 
county of Litchfield ; one was a Representative, 
Senator and Canal Commissioner in the State of New 
York, and one represented the State of Vermont 
for twelve years in the United States Senate. His 
maternal ancestry was none the less noted. His 
mother's father, Lieutenant Colonel Forman, served 
in the Revolution with the New Jersey troops; and 
her uncle, Colonel William Ledyard, was in com- 
mand at Groton, when in 1781 it was destroyed by 
the traitor Arnold. In the early part of the 
century the father of Mr. Seymour removed from 
Connecticut and made his home in Pompey, Onon- 
daga County, New York. Though now living 



HORATIO SEYMOUR. 5 

among strangers he soon, however, won their affec- 
tions, and but a few years passed before he received 
from them a practical expression of their confidence, 
in selecting him to represent the western district in 
the State Senate for the years i8 16-19. ^^ this 
period, as the project of the Erie Canal was receiv- 
ing considerable attention, he was appointed a Com- 
missioner for the same, which he retained till 1831, 
when he resigned. On his removal to Utica in 
1820, he was immediately elected to the Assembly ; 
two years later was returned again to the Senate. 
In 1833, he became mayor of his adopted city, and 
subsequently discharged the duties of president of 
the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company till 1837, 
when he died. 

Horatio Seymour was born in Pompey, May 31, 
1 8 10. Though he had seen but ten summers when 
his father removed to Utica, these early years were 
improved by attending the academy of his native 
village. When Utica became his home he was sent 
to the Oxford Academy ; from there he went to 
Geneva and entered what is now known as Hobart 
College, where, however, he remained but two years. 
He was neither rugged nor strong in youth and 
early manhood. His parents believing therefore 
that an institution which had connected with it 
enforced drill and exercise might contribute to his 
strength, sent him to a military school at Middle- 



6 HORATIO SEYMOUR. 

town, Connecticut. This change proved highly 
beneficial, as it contributed greatly to the establish- 
ment of his health, and led also to the door through 
which he was subsequently to pass to his many 
honors. The principal of this school, an officer in 
the army, was accustomed to take some of his 
pupils occasionally on a visit to Washington, and 
as young Seymour availed himself of this oppor- 
tunity before he was sixteen years of age, he became 
thus early acquainted with the capital and its historic 
associations. 

The academical curriculum completed, he returned 
to Utica, and after a little delay entered the law 
office of Greene C. Bronson and Samuel Beardsley, 
with whom he remained till admitted to the bar in 
1832. It is questionable whether he ever possessed 
a natural fondness for the law, or for that close 
application which success in the more learned pro- 
fessions plainly requires. During the following 
year (1833) he was invited and became the private 
secretary of Governor Marcy, serving in that capac- 
ity seven years. Albany was then the resort of the 
more influential in politics, as the government was 
in the hands of the most distinguished men in the 
State, and many families of the officials made the 
city their temporary home. Mr. Seymour was not 
long in imbibing the atmosphere of his surroundings, 
and receiving impulses which throughout his life 







' -C. 



:OME OF HORATIO SEYMOUR AT DEERFIELD. FRONT OF HOUSE, SHOWING THE BROAD PORCH. 

[Engraved /row a Photograph?^ 



HORATIO SEYMOUR. 7 

never forsook him. He received his military secre- 
taryship through the kindness and at the solicitation 
of Martin Van Buren, and from the personal friend- 
ships and intimacies which now began with this 
great statesman, and other Democratic leaders in 
the State and nation, he became imbued with those 
broad and patriotic sentiments which he subse- 
quently illustrated. Governor Marcy loved him as 
though he were his own son, and selected him as the 
most fit in his wide circle of acquaintance to bring 
in due time to a successful issue the great principles 
which underlie the government of the people by the 
people. It was at this early period that he acquired 
his love for the Constitution and Republican institu- 
tions. The more clearly he discovered their neces- 
sity and became acquainted with their benevolent 
purport, the more firmly was he convinced that they 
should not only be maintained, but wisely developed 
and yield their legitimate and desired fruit. 

In 1 84 1 he received his first office, being selected 
by the Democrats of Oneida County to represent 
them in the Assembly. At this time New York 
was somewhat disturbed by political jealousies, and 
but few dared to predict their outcome. His fellow 
Assemblymen included the historic names of Sanford 
E. Church, Levi S. Chatfield, John A. Dix, David 
R. Floyd Jones Michael Hoffman, and others 
who a few years later received the highest political 



8 HORATIO SEYMOUR. 

positions in the gift of the State. The attitude of 
Governor Bouck had somewhat divided the Demo- 
cratic party, resulting in crimination and recrimina- 
tion, nor did the sharp discussions concerning the 
canal policy which now occurred tend to heal the 
increasinc: difficulties. On the contrary, the Demo- 
cratic party found itself divided, one wing being 
represented by Mr. Hoffman, the other by Mr. 
Seymour. As the counsels of Mr. Seymour finally 
prevailed, from this hour many looked upon him 
as rapidly advancing toward political leadership. 
Returning to Utica, the next year he became its 
mayor ; and in the years 1843-4 was returned to the 
Assembly. In entering anew upon State legislation 
he found that none of the previous politico-personal 
frictions which had so recently revealed themselves 
had disappeared ; still the party which he represented 
on so many issues was strongly united. One thing 
was manifest ; within the past few years the gulf 
between the Whigs and Democrats had widened, 
and both were bent on obtaining the mastery. 
Combinations, of which there is no room now to 
speak, brought upon the Whig party perhaps the 
most inglorious disaster in its entire history ; and 
the more so when it is remembered that its 
strongest representative, in the person of Millard 
Fillmore, was put in nomination for the governor- 
ship, and the candidate for the Presidency was none 



HORATIO SEYMOUR. 9 

Other than Henry Clay, the idol of the American 
people. 

The triumphs of the Democratic party in this 
heated canvass brought Mr. Seymour once more 
into prominence. He became Speaker of the As- 
sembly, and, by virtue of his influence, did much to 
heal the differences existing among his political 
associates and secure the advance of Democratic 
principles. 

In 1850 he became the nominee of his party for 
Governor ; but owing to the popularity of his op- 
ponent, Washington Hunt, and a division among 
the Democrats, Mr. Seymour was defeated. When 
renominated in 1852 he was elected. Later, in the 
years 1854, 1862, and 1864, the gubernatorial chair 
was again offered to him, but he was successful only 
in the election of 1862. The force which contributed 
very seriously to his defeat in 1854 grew out of 
party dissensions and jealousies, differences on the 
Kansas-Nebraska bill, and the appearance of the 
Know-Nothings, who voted with the opposition. 
Perhaps the most important question which busied 
the larger number in the State during this period of 
Governor Seymour's magistracy was what was 
known as the Maine Law. As this law had been 
adopted by at least one of the New England States, 
and the others were giving it serious consideration, 
its friends sought an early opportunity to lay it be- 



lO HORATIO SEYMOUR. 

fore the Legislature of New York. Contrary to the 
expectation of many of nearly every shade of political 
opinion, though adopted by the Legislature, Governor 
Seymour attached to it his veto. Not that the evil 
to be removed was insignificant, or that it did not 
merit the closest thought of the wise and philan- 
thropic ; still less that the liquor traffic did not work 
wretchedness — ruin, indeed, that government could 
afford to disregard ; but prohibitory legislation was 
neither sound statesmanship nor constitutional. Its 
logical sequence was to provoke resistance rather 
than secure the desired obedience. The prohibition 
demanded was also impossible of execution and 
unwise in principle : a verdict the people rendered 
when, a few years after its adoption, under Governor 
Clark, in 1854, the law was repealed. Governor 
Seymour's position in the main was that intemper- 
ance was a sore evil, but depriving citizens of their 
rights and personal liberties was a greater wrong. 
Men are not reformed by law-making, nor does 
severity conquer the lawless. Laws are wise only 
as they have education, morality, and religion for 
their bases, and not coercion — an opinion the 
Supreme Court a little later fully sustained. Though 
the views of Governor Seymour had thus been 
confirmed by the decision of the Court, still it is 
very doubtful whether any of his previous official 
acts received more severe and unkind criticism. In 




SIDE VIEW OF THE SEYMOUR HOMESTEAD. 

\Engraved from a Pliotogra/'h.X 



HORATIO SEYMOUR. II 

the Storm, however, he remained true to his convic- 
tions, both as to the mission of law and to the great 
principle which he considered as underlying Demo- 
cratic government. 

During the intermitting years of Horatio Sey- 
mour's public trusts the State and nation passed 
through extraordinary trials. While the State was 
divided and subdivided into many political factions, 
and the nation was rapidly realizing that a moral 
cancer was threatening its very life, and differences 
existed concerning the policies in the new States 
and Territories, a new party appeared whose mission 
was to right, if possible, existing wrongs, and free 
the country from the troubles now investing it. It 
called itself the Republican party. As its purposes 
became understood, many of previously conflicting 
opinions identified themselves with it. Quite con- 
temporaneous with the birth of this party, the clouds 
which had been gradually gathering, thickened and 
darkened. At last the nation found itself engaged 
in fratricidal war. 

Though not occupying any official position at the 
outbreak of the war, when, however, it had been 
formally declared, and means for defence had been 
entered upon, Mr. Seymour was convinced it should 
be prosecuted. His popularity at this period is seen 
in his succeeding Governor Morgan in the Govern- 
orship. Never since New York became a State had 



12 HORATIO SEYMOUR. 

one of its magistrates been summoned to a position 
more difficult to fill than the one on which he now 
entered. While believing that the rupture might 
have been avoided, and the life and property which 
it threatened and finally consumed could have been 
spared, and attributing its origin as much to the 
intemperate speech of the North as to the error and 
obliquity of the South, he deplored the struggle and 
denounced the rebelHon as most wicked ; the more 
so as it aimed at the wreck of a government than 
which he felt none better had the world ever seen. 
Governor Seymour was a war Democrat of the 
purest luster. At the opening of the conflict, when 
the general government appealed to New York for 
assistance, he was made chairman of a committee of 
his own county to raise needed troops ; and by 
purse, influence, and word did much to preserve the 
dignity and integrity of the Union. Having been 
inaugurated Governor in 1863, his first message to 
the legislature contained these loyal words : " At 
this moment the fortunes of our country are in- 
fluenced by the results of battles. Our armies in 
the field must be supported, all constitutional de- 
mands of the general government must be responded 
to. . . . Under no circumstances can the division 
of the Union be conceded. We will put forth every 
exertion of power ; we will use every policy of 
conciliation ; we will hold out every inducement to 



HORATIO SEYMOUR. I3 

the people of the South to return to their allegiance 
consistent with honor; we will guarantee them 
every right, every consideration demanded by the 
Constitution, and by the fraternal regard which 
must prevail in a common country, but we can 
never voluntarily consent to the breaking up of the 
Union of these States or the destruction of the 
Constitution." 

Necessarily omitting references to those numerous 
measures which Governor Seymour at this crucial 
period in the nation's life proposed for its integrity, 
as well as all consideration of the addresses which 
he so frequently delivered bearing upon the issues 
of that day, including his special messages to the 
Legislature, and the firmness with which he de- 
clared that at all risks the public faith and credit of 
the State should never be impaired, the appearance, 
however, of the " riots " caused him and others of 
every political complexion great alarm. But the 
roots of these disturbances existed anterior to his 
administration. The thistles, and the thistles only, 
were his. At this period, in the estimation of not 
a few, the conflict had become nothing but an 
abolition war, and an influential portion of the public 
press would have the people so believe. This opinion 
begat not only new differences, but gave new force 
likewise to the inquiry, whether the general govern- 
ment was not violating by its acts the Constitution, 



14 HORATIO SEYMOUR. 

and trampling upon rights which its very genius 
conferred. While these convictions were spreading, 
the North was fairly appalled at its misfortunes. 
The oft-beaten Army of the Potomac was moving 
forward to cover Washington and Baltimore ; the 
experiences at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville 
were fresh; Hooker was about being relieved of 
his command on the eve of a decisive struggle ; 
Grant was held at bay by Vicksburg, and Banks by 
Port Hudson, and in Middle Tennessee Rosecrans 
was inactive. Volunteers were also slow in enlist- 
ment. To remedy the strain to which the govern- 
ment was rapidly being subjected, an act providing 
for the enrollment of the national forces was 
adopted. Attempting to enforce this same act pre- 
cipitated the riots. No sooner, however, did this 
spirit of insubordination exhibit itself than Governor 
Seymour sought to arrest it by force and by words. 
The latter, owing to the disturbed condition of the 
public mind, received from many unkindly criticism. 
Governor Seymour never denied the abused 
phrase; on the contrary, he acknowledged it would 
have been wiser perhaps to have chosen language 
less exposed to twist and misinterpretation. In 
brief, his relations to the war were quite as pro- 
nounced as many sitting in the halls of legislation, 
or active in the field. So promptly did he respond 
to the requisition which President Lincoln made 



HORATIO SEYMOUR. I 5 

upon him for troops, that he received from him a 
letter of thanks and congratulations ; later the Sec- 
retary of War sent him a similar communication ; 
and still later, the President again wrote him ac- 
knowledgements. 

As this correspondence possesses unusual import- 
ance and has a historical significance, it is introduced 
somewhat in detail. 

June 15th, 1863, the Secretary of War sent to 
Governor Seymour the following dispatch : 

" Will you please inform me immediately, if, in answer to a special 
call of the President, you can raise and forward, say twenty thousand 
militia as volunteers without bounty, to be credited on the draft of your 
State; or what number you can possibly raise? 

"Edwin M. Stanton." 

To the telegram it was replied : 

"I will spare no efforts to send you troops at once. 

" Horatio Seymour." 

Later the same day this additional message was 
sent to the Secretary of War : 

" I will order the New York and Brooklyn troops to Philadelphia at 
once. Where can they get arms, if any are needed ? 

"Horatio Seymour." 

These two despatches were followed by a third to 
the same address, reading : 

" We have two thousand enlisted volunteers. I will have them con- 
solidated into companies and regiments, and sent on at once. You must 
provide them with arms. 

" Horatio Seymour." 



1 6 HORATIO SEYMOUR. 

In reply to the above prompt action, four days 
afterwards, Governor Seymour received the follow- 
ing: 

Washington, June 19, 1863. 
" The President directs me to return his thanks to his Excellency 
Governor Seymour and his staff, for their energetic and prompt action. 

"Edwin M. Stanton, 

"Secretary of War." 

Later, Secretary Stanton wrote to Governor Sey- 
mour as follows : 

(Confidential.) War Departmext, Washington, ) 

June 27, 1863. f 

" Dear Sir: — I cannot forbear expressing to you the deep obligation I 
feel for the prompt and cordial support you have given to the Govern- 
ment in the present emergency. The energy, activity and patriotism 
you have exhibited, 1 may be permitted personally and officially to 
acknowledge, without arrogating any personal claim on my part in such 
service, or to any service whatever. I shall be happy always to be 
esteemed your friend. 

"Edwin M. Stanton." 

Three months earlier than these despatches and 
letters. President Lincoln penned these words to 
Governor Seymour : 

(Private and Confidential.) 

Washington, March 23, 1863. 

To His Excellency Governor Horatio Seymour: 

" You and I are substantially strangers, and I write chiefly that we 
may become better acquainted. I, for the time being, am at the head of 
a nation which is in great peril, and you are at the head of the greatest 
State in that nation. As to maintaining the nation's life and integrity, 
I assume and believe there cannot be any difference of purpose between 
you and me. If we should differ as to the means, it is important that 
such difference should be as small as possible; that it should not be 
enhanced by unjust suspicions on the one side or the other. In the 
performance of ray duty, the cooperation of your State, as that of others, 
is needed ; in fact, it is indispensable. This alone is a sufficient reason 
why I should wish to be at a good understanding with you. Please 
write, etc. 

"A. Lincoln." 



HORATIO SEYMOUR. I 7 

To this frank communication from the President, 
Governor Seymour in part replied : 

*'■••■ I assure you that no political resentment, no per- 
sonal purpose will turn me aside from the pathway I have marked out. 
I intend to show those charged with the administration of public affairs 
a due deference and respect ; and to give to them a just and generous 
support in all the measures they may adopt within the scope of their 
constitutional powers. For the preservation of this Union, I am ready 
to make any sacrifice of interest, passion or prejudice. 

"Truly yours, 

"Horatio Seymour." 

Indeed, when the great question in all its nakedness 
came before Governor Seymour, — shall the Union be 
preserved ? — no one looked at this truth more soberly, 
nor did any display a more determined purpose. In 
presence of this inquiry, those far-reaching prob- 
lems which no statesman can safely overlook — 
personal freedom, the rights of the individual States, 
the consideration of sectional interests, or the func- 
tions of a free government — were wholly secondary. 
Every blow at the dismemberment of the Union 
aroused him to new, more vigorous, and persistent 
effort. Amidst the excitement of these war hours 
the problem which came home to him with serious- 
ness was not, as some have conjectured, whether the 
national unity shall be broken, but now that it is in 
jeopardy, what were the wisest and the legitimate 
methods by which it could be conserved and its 
perpetuity forever secured ? But the political history 
and attitude of Horatio Seymour during this terrible 



t8 HORATIO SEYMOUR. 

period of national strife must be left to his biog- 
rapher. When it shall have been written, it will 
be seen that he was a loyal son to the institutions 
he so ardently loved ; and that the suspicions 
attached to his name had their rise in heated imag- 
inations, and in the bitter animosities of an over- 
strained partisanship. 

At the expiration of Governor Seymour's war 
term he resolv^ed to return to his rural home and 
devote himself to study and rest. He did so. His 
past influence, however, with men, his profound 
knowledge of affairs, and the wisdom which his 
admirers observed had characterized so many of his 
public relations, led many to solicit his opinion on 
the numerous political measures then in process of 
formation. He was presently selected as a candidate 
for governor in opposition to Reuben E. Fenton. 
In this canvass he was defeated by a slight majority, 
attributable as believed to some irregularity in the 
returns. 

When in 1868 the National Convention was 
called for the selection of a candidate for the Pres- 
idency, Horatio Seymour attended the assembly as 
a delegate, and was chosen, as at the preceding 
National Convention, its presiding officer. The 
supposable candidates were Salmon P. Chase, Judge 
Sanford E. Church, and George H. Pendleton. On 
the earlier ballots Mr. Pendleton led. Later, the 



HORATIO SEYMOUR. 1 9 

names of General W. S. Hancock and Thomas A. 
Hendricks were introduced ; but as no conclusion 
could be reached, the name of Mr. Pendleton was 
withdrawn on the third day of the session, after the 
polling of the eighteenth ballot, and Horatio Sey- 
mour's was introduced ; and notwithstanding- his 
earnest protest, it was unanimously resolved that he 
be the candidate. As General Grant received the 
nomination of the Republican Convention, and was 
then wearing the many laurels which he had honestly 
won in the service of his country, and as the many 
differences in the Republican ranks had been healed, 
Mr. Seymour was in the election defeated. With 
the close of this campaign his political life may be 
said to have come to an end. 

The great disputes which the war had awakened 
were ov^er, peace prevailed throughout the country, 
the industries of the nation were beginning again to 
move, and the policy of the government, for several 
years at least, had been determined ; thus there was 
no reason forbidding him the retirement he had 
been coveting. Contrary, however, to his oft-ex- 
pressed wishes, he was renominated in 1876 for 
Governor ; and had it not been for his resolve to 
pass his remaining years in retirement, he would 
have been sent the same year to the United States 
Senate, rather than his life-long and accomplished 
friend and townsman, Francis Kernan. The other 



20 HORATIO SEYMOUR. 

official positions proffered to Horatio Seymour were 
State Senator and Congressman. He held likewise 
at various times the following offices: in 1868 he 
was chosen one of the first of the Commissioners of 
State Fisheries; in 1876 member of the State 
Survey, and in 1878 president of the Board of Com- 
missioners of State Survey. For many years he 
occupied the presidency of the National Dairymen's 
Association, of the American Prison Association, 
and was the presiding officer of the Oneida County 
Historical Society from its inception till his death. 
It is worthy of note here that the many positions 
which had been offered to Mr. Seymour by his 
neighbors, his district, his State, and the nation, 
came wholly unsolicited. He never asked for office. 
He has been known to have absented himself from 
the conventions of his party lest his presence might 
indicate a desire for political advancement, rather 
than the maintenance and enforcement of wise and 
just measures. It could easily be shown that, if his 
numerous friends had been able to coerce his accept- 
ance of the nomination of the conventions when 
the names of Tilden, Hancock and Cleveland were 
selected, Horatio Seymour would have received a 
most honorable support. His nomination for the 
Presidency was as completely unexpected as the 
defeat of the aspirants for the position. Nor did 
he yield to the pressure brought upon him, till he 



HORATIO SEYMOUR. 21 

had entered an honest protest at the course taken, 
and assured the convention that it was acting in 
direct opposition to his best convictions, as well as 
the welfare of their party, saying to the assembled 
delegates, "Your candidate I cannot be." 

A subject very near the heart of Mr. Seymour 
remains to be mentioned. From the hour of his 
entrance upon public life he took a deep interest in 
its waterways ; more especially in the canal that 
bound the great West to the Hudson and the 
seaboard. In caring for this canal and securing for 
It wise legislation, he was ever active. He early 
discovered its usefulness and foresaw the bearing 
also which this great waterway would have upon 
the building up of the commonwealth, the enriching 
and developing of the city of New York, and thus 
indirectly upon the growth of the country. Though 
the canal system had in its formative days the 
counsels of such men as Gouverneur Morris, De 
Witt Clinton, Robert R. Livingston and Robert 
Fulton, and later, when the Erie was opened, it 
received the supervision of such commissioners as 
Ephraim Hart, Henry Seymour, John Bowman, 
and William C. Bouck, there were many evils con- 
nected with its workings, unconsciously hindering 
its usefulness. As early as 1844, when Horatio 
Seymour was a member of the Assembly, he presented 
a report to that body covering seventy octavo pages, 



2 2 HORATIO SEYMOUR. 

in which he outHned what should be the policy of 
the State in reference to its waterways, a report still 
yielding fruit. He studied the mode of transit in 
all its bearings. An investigation into the canal 
system of the State of New York will show that 
but few, if any, have ever given more time to its 
consideration, have more firmly opposed its surrender 
to the ownership or control of rival railway corpora- 
tions, or been more earnest in bringing about the 
abolition of toll. Indeed, the last address delivered 
by Mr. Seymour was before the Canal Conference, 
which held its sessions last autumn in the city of 
Utica. 

During this period of his busy career he wrote 
for and addressed the public not only on political 
questions, but on themes purely philanthropic, and 
w^holly unpartisan. His speeches, messages, and 
proclamations w^ould easily make an octavo volume 
of many hundred pages up to the year 1868, when 
he contemplated retirement. His contributions for 
the following fourteen years in the State library at 
Albany constitute two more volumes ; and since 
this period another volume could readily be formed. 
The range of his occasional addresses was unusually 
broad. Agriculture, political economy, social ethics, 
jurisprudence, philology, education, topography and 
history were in turn considered. His contributions 
to the topography and history of the State are .most 



HORATIO SEYMOUR. 23 

valuable. He studied its natural resources, its his- 
tory and its capabilities with devotion. In this 
respect he was an intense New Yorker. Few were 
better acquainted with New York's beginnings, had 
more knowledge of its colonial days, or were better 
versed in its historic struggles — their origin, their 
location and their results; or labored with greater 
assiduity to have them perpetuated. The last two 
monuments with which his name will ever be asso- 
ciated are those commemorating the battle of 
Saratoga, and the terrible conflict under Herkimer 
at Oriskany. Governor Seymour was well informed 
also in Indian history. His articles on the Iroquois, 
the Romans of the new world, are quite numerous. 
He studied with great care their habits, travels, 
wars, and antiquities ; nor could he free himself 
from the conviction that the aborigines of the State 
had been greatly wronged. On one occasion he 
visited the Auburn prison and addressed its un- 
fortunate inmates in language and sentiment, which, 
whether viewed from the side of philanthropy or 
philosophy, may be regarded as an American classic. 
Horatio Seymour was naturally a leader of men. 
He impressed them with his earnestness, sagacity 
and sincerity. He loved the institutions among 
which he was born and whose interests he undevia- 
tingly sought for the good with which they were 
fraught, and the possibilities connected with their 



24 HORATIO SEYMOUR. 

logical development. As a consequence, his political 
life nowhere reveals the preference of self to local, 
State, or national measures, or the sacrifice of 
principle to the interests of personal ambition. All 
individuality was sunk in the results desired ; self 
ever rendering lowly obeisance to the public weal. 
Few men in public or private life have revealed 
such an even and rounded character. There was a 
charm about him quite irresistible. He did not 
wait for others to get at his love and sympathy ; it 
was theirs at once. All who came to him received 
prompt recognition ; the poor and the humble as 
they whose names were embroidered with titles. 
His love for our common humanity was intense. 
Indeed, in every human being he recognized certain 
conditions of happiness, and so far as possible labored 
for their development. He loved men because they 
w^ere men. Sympathy and friendliness permeated 
his very being ; nor did he ever delay to have these 
virtues awakened. He was as responsive to appeal 
as the harp when touched by skillful fingers. Mis- 
fortune, whatever form it assumed, grieved him and 
even called out practical response. His beneficiaries 
were almost innumerable, and unlimited by creed 
or nationality. As he abhorred unchastity and 
despised dishonor and deceit, so cruelty in all its 
forms vexed him. Everything that could know 
pain belonged to his Father's Kingdom. His 



HORATK) SEYMOUR. 25 

benignity and thoughtfulness made him the child 
of the people. Even his political opponents enrolled 
themselves among his friends, nor was there any 
against whom he harbored the least enmity. Party 
lines no more divided his respect than geographical 
divisions show the courses of the rivers. The 
trickery of the politician and unprincipled partisan- 
ship were beneath his notice. Never would he lend 
his voice or name to what he believed was in itself 
wrong. 

Remembering the freedom that is so often taken 
with the name and personality of men in public life, 
it has often been asked how Governor Seymour 
escaped the scandals of the traducer and the wit of 
the defamer. The solution is to be found in the 
uniformity and excellency of his character. All the 
years of his public life fail to disclose an act that 
affects either his honesty, purity, or uprightness, or 
that mars his escutcheon with a single blot. Even in 
the exciting periods and amidst the bitter struggle 
of partisan warfare the tongue of reproach never 
assailed him, nor was there a failing in his private 
life over which the world could be merry. In the 
varied relations of man, citizen, ruler, he was a 
model. To be right, to do right, to be virtuous and 
to keep virtuous constituted his ambition. 

Mr. Seymour possessed deep convictions, and he 
had the courage to express, and if need be also to 



26 HORATIO SEYiMOUR. 

defend them. On party and national questions, it 
was not difficult to place him. Liberal yet conser- 
vative, and anxious only for the truth and what 
could best subserve the State or nation. He was a 
partisan, but it never interfered with or shadowed 
his patriotism. He was too much of a statesman 
to be a politician, and too thoughtful to be either 
selfish or imperious. His greatest solicitation was 
to serve the republic and give her the influence 
among the nations her institutions so justly merited. 
What he was as an orator he was by nature. His 
thoughts were always clothed in the simplest lan- 
guage, and the evidence that he had weighed his 
sentences made his discourses invariably pleasant 
and instructive. He spoke with gracefulness and 
deliberation, never resorting to the tricks of persua- 
sion, nor suffering himself to be hampered by a 
manuscript. At times, the majesty and magnetism 
of his presence were all conquering. Erect, with 
his right hand thrust between the front buttons of 
his coat, was his favorite attitude. His reading was 
varied ; during the last twenty years he made him- 
self familiar especially with agriculture and the 
science and practice of farming. 

Devotedly attached to nature, he loved her fields 
and her forests, and wandered among her beauties 
thoughtfully and reverently. He had a passion for 
flowers, and, as he nursed them, always gave ear to 



HORATIO SEYMOUR. 27 

their impressible speech ; in a word, their multiple 
colors and fragrance wooed him. His beautiful and 
retired home on his farm in Deerfield will possess 
for the future the same class of memories as linger 
about the historic places, Marshfield, Monticello, 
and the Hermitage. It is situated on the southern 
slope of one of the hills of the same name on the 
upper bank of the Mohawk, about two miles from 
Utica. The dwelling- itself is unpretentious. The 
large oaks, elms, pines, and shrubbery about it 
invest it, however, with great attractions. While 
he loved to sit upon its broad porch and lend him- 
self to the rich associations of the valley at his feet, 
with whose traditions and history he was so familiar, 
the library was his favorite resort, and he gladly 
received in it his many visitors. Conceive of a 
plain room, with walls partially hidden by well-filled 
book-cases, an open fire-place, and furniture of the 
olden time, and you have the retreat he called his 
happy and restful home. The relics and curiosities 
therein are interesting and of great variety ; numer- 
ous early maps, Indian trophies, early deeds, historic 
swords and fire-arms, arrows, powder-horns, and like 
links of the past. The chair at his table formerly- 
belonged to Daniel Webster ; the old clock in the 
corner that still ticks, dates from the early colonial 
days. Within this pleasant room he made you feel 
as though nothing stood between you and himself. 



28 HORATIO SEYMOUR. 

His conversation was rapid, suggestive, and very 
entertaining. Those who left his presence no wiser 
after these conversational seasons, had not listened 
to the melody or the inspiration of his speech. 

His humor was always pleasant, never coarse ; 
and not unfrequently his most amusing anecdotes 
concerned himself. In his manner he was gentle, 
courteous, and dignified, and free from even the 
appearance of affectation. In his tastes he was 
scholarly, and yet he studied men and events more 
devotedly than volumes. In his religious views he 
was as clear and definite as in those that pertained 
to the welfare of the State. Christianity with him 
was a living force, and only they could be what they 
ought who were governed by its teachings. His 
presence was often seen in the higher councils of 
the Episcopal Church, and on many occasions by 
voice, pen, purse, and influence he furthered its 
interests. For very many years he was a warden in 
old Trinity Church, Utica, and until quite recently 
one of its regular attendants. The church-going 
habit of Governor Seymour may be seen in the 
following characteristic incident. Not long since, 
in looking over a volume discolored by age, a little 
slip dropped from the same, which proved to be a 
record of his fellow-students while at Geneva, who 
had absented themselves from church. The slip was 
dated Trinity Church, Geneva, June 13, 1824. 



HORATIO SEYMOUR. 29 

Among these absentees was a still surviving friend. 
Enclosing his own photograph and the same bit of 
yellow paper, he sent the same to his early compan- 
ion, with these words : 

" My dear Church, 

" You were late at church forty-two years ago. So says this scrap 
of paper that comes fluttering down to us through half a century like an 
autumn leaf. It dropped out of an old book at Geneva where it was put 
by some one who died long since. When you look at it you will feel like 
one reading a tombstone. With a few exceptions it is a list of dead men. 
We have seen things, strange things, since that little record of neglected 
duties was made up. I send you the likeness of one whom I am glad to 
say was not absent from church on the 13th of June, 1824. As you see 
he is a battered, bald-headed old man now. Then he was a smooth- 
faced school-boy, with a full head of hair and a large stock of hope and 
conceit. Well, as I have said, we have seen much that is startling in the 
last fifty years. In all human probability we shall see something more 
startling within the next five years. Most of us will be packed up and 
dropped into our graves. It seems that we have not been wanted in 
either of the departments of the other world up to this time. I do not 
think that we shall be overlooked much longer. It is high time for you 
to mend your habits as to church-going or some worse record may turn 
up against you than the one I now send you. 

"Truly yours, 

"Horatio Seymour." 

In the summer of 1876, Governor Seymour 
received a partial sunstroke while performing the 
duties of path master on the road of his town, the 
only office, as he once remarked, he had sought. 
This was the beginning of his decline. Though 
occasionally detained within doors by the usual 
accompaniments of age and the fears from exposure 
to excessive heat or cold, serious illness, however, 
did not overtake him till a few days before his 



30 HORATIO SEYMOUR. 

death. His devoted wife, feeling the need of medical 
assistance, and nearer than that which their country 
home afforded, he accompanied her to the city, 
making their home for the time being with his sister, 
Mrs. Roscoe Conkling. When he learned her true 
condition and that her recovery was very improbable, 
he was deeply affected. Almost immediately great 
languor and weakness ensued, followed by recurring 
nausea. A few days later an effusion of blood at 
the base of the brain supervened, when 

" He gave his honors to the world again, 
His blessed past to heaven and slept in peace," 

dying with no last words, February 12, 1886, in the 
seventy-sixth year of his age. 

Horatio Seymour married. May 31, 1835, Mary, 
the youngest daughter of John Rutger Bleecker, of 
Albany. While writing this rapid sketch of her 
loving and loved husband, she also has gone to the 
brightness beyond. Their mortal remains, awaiting 
the summons " Come forth," rest side by side in 
Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica, New York. 

Death never takes one alone, but two ! 
Whenever he enters in at a door, 
Under roof of gold or roof of thatch, 
He always leaves it upon the latch, 
And comes again ere the year is o'er ; 
Never one of a household only. 



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